The Ornament

The Ornament By Tianna Xander


Chapter One



he last thing I need is a date.” Pushing aside

“T the tabletop Christmas tree, Kaylee reached over, grabbed the bottle of ketchup and squeezed a generous portion onto her plate. Here Comes Santa Claus played in the background as children lined up to see the fat man in the red suit on the other side of the food court.

“That’s just gross.” Laura, Kaylee’s best friend, wrinkled her nose and looked away. “How can you eat that crap?”

Kaylee looked at her friend’s plate and grimaced. “I could ask you the same thing, you know.” She took a sip of her drink and frowned.

“Tell me something. Why are vegetarians always eating soy burgers and tofu hotdogs that are supposed to taste like the real thing if you don’t like meat?” She waved her fork at Laura’s plate of tofu-chicken tortellini and made a face. “Tofu-chicken. Yech!”

“Stop changing the subject.” Laura scowled.

“You need a man and I don’t mean a dream lover 1

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with worse dietary habits than the both of us put together.” Reaching out, Laura plucked a red ornament off the tiny tree on the end of the table.

“Is this a cherry tomato?” She popped it into her mouth and shook her head. “Food. They’re decorating with food.”

Kaylee gasped at her friend’s lack of caution.

“Stop eating the decorations! You have no idea whose been fingering them.” She shuddered. “It could have rolled across the floor or something.”

“You’re changing the subject again. We were talking about the advantages of real men over dream men.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have told you about Gregori.” Kaylee shook her head.

“Then why did you?” Laura took a bite of her lunch before she continued. “I mean it, Kaylee.

Seriously. I’d like to think that if I were dreaming of nightly visits from a handsome dream lover, he’d at least be human.” Reaching across the table, she patted Kaylee’s hand. “Girlfriend, dreaming of bloodsucking fiends just isn’t normal.”

“Gregori

isn’t

a

fiend.

He’s

lonely,

tragic…tortured maybe, but not a fiend.”

“Perhaps,” Laura said, holding up her hand when Kaylee would have objected. “But you can’t deny that he’s a bloodsucker.” Laura grinned.

“Face it, girl, you’re a closet freak.” Kaylee pressed her lips together and looked 2

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down at the ketchup on her plate. She picked up a fry, swirled it through the red puddle, then popped it into her mouth. She tried to ignore the flashes from cameras as parents snapped photos of their children on the mall Santa’s lap and concentrated on her food.

Closet freak, huh? She couldn’t argue with that.

Gregori was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. He was also a considerate lover and he had just a hint of some Slavic-sounding accent that was to die for. He was also a vampire, which made her dream an impossible one, not that she really wanted a vampire for a lover. It still didn’t change the fact that vampires didn’t exist.

“I’m telling you, Kaylee, you need to get out more. How about coming to my company’s holiday party?”

“Uh…no, thanks.” Kaylee took a bite of her burger and closed her eyes. She did love a good bacon cheeseburger. Too bad her hips loved them, too. “It’s time I resigned myself to another Christmas spent alone.” If she was lucky, Gregori would visit her dreams and she wouldn’t feel so alone at least.

“Okay,” Laura said with a sigh. “But the offer still stands if you change your mind. There’s always room for another woman at the party.” She waggled her brows. “You do realize that the men outnumber the women and rumor has it that the 3

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big boss just might attend this year.”

“Isn’t that what you said last year?” Kaylee shook her head. She was sorely tempted to tell Laura that she couldn’t give a flying flip if the big boss was going to be there naked with a big red bow dangling from his…waist. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.” Kaylee smiled at the mental picture her thoughts invoked.

Laura just shrugged. “Well, you know where to reach me if you change your mind.” Kaylee nodded. That was what she liked about Laura. She never pushed too hard. “I have to go. If I stay here much longer, I’ll have you buying something for me with your card and you know I’m trying to cut my spending. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Kaylee stood with her tray and dumped it into the nearby trashcan. Turning back to her friend, she waved. “Try not to spend too much money.”

“You know me,” Laura said with a laugh and blew her a kiss. “Try to find a real man to dream about, will you?”

Shaking her head, Kaylee turned and left the food court. She wished it wasn’t so cold out and she could walk through the parking lot and avoid the temptation of all things Christmas.

Kaylee was on her way to the exit doors when an ornament in a store caught her eye. She loved ornaments, especially antique ornaments. This one 4

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looked very old. In fact, it appeared to be encased as though to protect it from the elements.

It was a small figurine encased in glass. The twinkling lights of the shop hit it just right and it appeared that the tiny figure inside winked at her.

She had to have it. She only hoped she had enough money on her. She’d been leaving her credit card at home since she decided to pay it off and get out of debt.

The bells over the door jingled merrily as she entered the small shop. Surrounded by the scent of cinnamon and ginger, she inhaled deeply and wondered if the shop had a kitchen. It smelled as though someone was baking gingerbread men in the back.

Making her way around the tables filled with every type of ornament she could imagine, Kaylee found herself reaching for the one she saw in the window. She couldn’t help herself.

Just as she picked it from the garland stapled to the window frame, a door slammed behind her and she jumped. The ornament fell from her hand and struck the window frame on its way down to the parquet tile beneath her feet. What she had thought was glass, split in two and the small figurine fell out onto the floor.

“Oh, no!” Kaylee bent to pick up the pieces as the sound of hurried footsteps got closer and closer.

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“Don’t fret. It’s not broken. Whoever incased it, didn’t want it to break…ever, but somehow, the adhesive he or she used deteriorates and it splits open like that.” He looked at the figurine in her hand and frowned. “You should never pick it up without gloves. Body chemistry does something to it.”

Reaching out, he took the figurine from her, an oven mitt on his hand. “Every one of the encased ornaments is old enough that they react to your body chemistry. Never touch the things inside without gloves.”

Kaylee wiped her hands on her pants. “I’m sorry. I had no idea. I’ll buy that one since I broke it. If I ruined it with my body oils, I will be the one to suffer the damages.” She smiled nervously. “In fact, I’d come in to purchase that one anyway. It calls to me.”

The old man smiled. “The ornaments in here call to almost everyone who walks by.” He placed the figure inside the hard, clear plastic shell and snapped it closed. “I’ll have to glue this back together before you take it home.” He looked at her with a strange expression. “I tell you what.


Leave it here and I’ll fix it. Then you can come by tomorrow and pick it up if you still want it.”

“Okay.” Kaylee didn’t really want to leave it.

Something about the way the old man acted made her want to take the ornament and run, but if he 6

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wouldn’t sell it to her until he’d fixed it, she couldn’t very well take it and run now. She wasn’t a thief. The only thing she could do was head home and come back first thing in the morning.

She would be here promptly at ten AM when the sign said the shop opened. For now, she would just have to head home and try to dream of Gregori again.

Kaylee walked out into the parking lot and frowned. “Crap. I rode here with Laura. I’ll look like an idiot if I go back in there now.” With a sigh, she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called a cab.

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